Hasta La Ideas

Hackney-based artist Alex Chinneck has fitted identically smashed windows into a derelict factory just a mile away from the Olympic Stadium (+ slideshow).

Presented in association with the Sumarria Lunn Gallery, the installation draws attention to issues of economic and social decline in an area that was hoping to benefit from the regenerative effect of the games.

The project plays on the common assumption that unrepaired broken windows signify this kind of decline.

Chinneck spent four months clearing out soil, water tanks and heat lamps from the abandoned factory, which had last been used to grow cannabis plants.

He used industrial processes to replicate the same smashed window 312 times, with four pieces of glass creating the same break in every pane.

The installation can be viewed until November 2012, after which the building will be demolished.

The building is located on the corner of Mare Street and Tudor Road in Hackney, E9 7SN. Scroll down to see the site in our Designed in Hackney map.

See all the stories from our Designed in Hackney archives »

Here’s some more information about the sculpture:

Everyone knows the broken window theory – that vandalised windows signal an acceptance of social decline. Not so in Hackney where 312 identically smashed windows are causing passers-by to double take. Nicknamed ‘the Banksy of glass’ by local residents, artist Alex Chinneck is replacing broken factory windows with… broken factory windows. Presented by Alex Chinneck in association with Sumarria Lunn Gallery and located just one mile from the Olympic stadium, this intervention transforms a derelict factory building into a public art project.

Growing up surrounded by the industrial architecture of London’s East End, the work of Alex Chinneck removes everyday construction materials from their utilitarian context. Inspired by the landscape of London’s industrial architectural heritage, he finds raw beauty in these solid, purpose-made buildings. Smashed windows in former industrial neighborhoods come as no surprise; but where others see vandalism, Alex Chinneck saw potential: “There is something mesmerising about the way light catches a broken window pane, not only is the glass shattered but so is the reflection.”

Starting with an abandoned factory that had been used to grow cannabis, Chinneck spent a gruelling four months removing the remnants: piles of soil, wires, grow bags, water tanks, plant pots and heat lamps. Following an intense period of preparation, Chinneck then used industrial processes to precisely replicate one smashed window 312 times, replacing each original factory window.

All the visible windows in this building have now been replaced with identically broken sheets of glass – the combination of engineering and accident helping to complete the illusion: “This project always evolved with consideration to sculpture, architecture and engineering but ultimately I like the simple idea of performing a magic trick on such a scale.” In total 312 panes from 13 windows have been replaced with 1,248 pieces of glass – four pieces form the perfect break in every pane. Fast becoming a Hackney landmark, the former factory will soon be demolished, the work disappearing with it.

About the artist:
Alex Chinneck was born in 1984 and is a graduate of the Chelsea College of Art and Design. Most recently he was nominated for the Royal British Society of Sculptors’ Bursary Award. Using contemporary methods of fabrication, Chinneck finds new and ambitious applications for everyday construction materials, removing them from their functional context to create playful installations. By making work that is unconcerned with creative disciplines his sculptures and installations co-exist across the realms of art, design and architecture.

Title: Telling the Truth Through False Teeth
Artist: Alex Chinneck in association with Sumarria Lunn Gallery
Location: corner of Mare Street and Tudor Road, Hackney, E9 7SN
Installation on view: now until November 2012

Designed in Hackney map:

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Key:

Blue = designers
Red = architects
Yellow = brands
Green = street art

See a larger version of this map

Designed in Hackney is a Dezeen initiative to showcase world-class architecture and design created in the borough, which is one of the five host boroughs for the London 2012 Olympic Games as well as being home to Dezeen’s offices. We’ll publish buildings, interiors and objects that have been designed in Hackney each day until the games this summer.

More information and details of how to get involved can be found at www.designedinhackney.com.

The post Telling the Truth Through False Teeth
by Alex Chinneck appeared first on Dezeen.

Here’s the line-up for our Designed in Hackney Day on 1 August. This event is FREE! Click here to register now and read on for more details…

On 1 August 2012 online design and architecture magazine Dezeen and writer/curator Beatrice Galilee will host a day celebrating Hackney’s incredible design scene at Hackney House in Shoreditch.

Designed in Hackney Day will feature design talks, discussions, debates, performances and a market involving the best and most interesting architects, designers and makers in the east London borough of Hackney, with a particular focus on young, emerging talents.

Featuring:

BERG
Technology Will Save Us
Sugru
Tomorrow’s Thoughts Today
Super Collider
Troika
Erect Architecture
Office Sian
Studio Weave
The Decorators
Poke
Jason Bruges
Tracey Neuls
Abake
CREATE
It’s Nice That
Dominic Wilcox
Pearson Lloyd
Something & Son
Phillipe Malouin
Roger Arquer
Make Do and Draw
Tatty Devine
Gort Scott
The Gopher Hole
And more…

Taking place in the heart of Shoreditch during the Olympics, Designed in Hackney Day will celebrate the incredible diversity of design talent in Dezeen’s home borough as well as providing an opportunity to discuss both the opportunities and threats to creative businesses in this fast-changing part of London.

It will also explore experimental design strategies that are emerging in the borough, with discussions involving leading Hackney critics and curators as well as creative practitioners.

This FREE event builds on Dezeen’s phenomenally successful Designed in Hackney online showcase – which has had over 1.5 million visits since launching in March – and will feature a full day of presentations by leading Hackney creatives plus interviews, panel discussions and more.

There will also be a buzzing market area where local designers will be able to show off their talents, demonstrate their ideas and sell their wares. A Pecha Kucha event will give a broad range of figures from Hackney’s creative scene the chance to share their work and views.

There will be an evening reception and entertainment late into the night featuring local DJs and bands.

The venue is Hackney House – the borough’s temporary cultural and business expo centre located at 186 Shoreditch High Street, London E1 6HU.

Designed in Hackney is a collaboration between Dezeen, curator Beatrice Galilee and Hackney Council.

Hackney designers: you have two more days to submit proposals for FREE stalls at the Designed in Hackney Market at the same event! Click here for more details.

Contact Designed in Hackney

See Dezeen’s rolling showcase of Hackney design here: http://www.dezeen.com/designedinhackney/

See our Google Map of Hackney architects and designers

Designed in Hackney Day
Hackney House
186 Shoreditch High Street
London E1 6HU

1 August 2012

FREE! Click here to register now

www.designedinhackney.com

A kilometre-long cable car designed by British architects Wilkinson Eyre has opened today over the River Thames in London.

Suspended 90 metres above the water, the 34 cars connect the O2 arena on the Greenwich Peninsula with the ExCeL centre at the Royal Docks, which will be the venue for a number of indoor events at this summer’s Olympic games.

Three twisting towers will hold the cables in places, while two glazed terminals are located on either side of the river.

See all our coverage of London 2012 here, including a slideshow of all the new permanent buildings.

Wilkinson Eyre also recently completed a giant tropical garden in Singapore – see it here.

See more stories about Wilkinson Eyre Architects »

Here’s some more information from Wilkinson Eyre Architects:

Emirates Air Line opens to the public

First flight for London transport scheme designed by Wilkinson Eyre Architects

The newest link in London’s transport network will open to the public today (28th June 2012). The infrastructure was designed by London-based Wilkinson Eyre Architects, and the Emirates Air Line cable car will lift passengers up to 90 metres above the river Thames as they travel the 1.1km route between the Greenwich Peninsula and the Royal Docks.

The Royal Docks and Greenwich Peninsula are two of the most active areas of regeneration in London. The Emirates Air Line emerged as the preferred solution to provide a pedestrian link across the Thames that would support this regeneration effort.

Wilkinson Eyre was commissioned, with Expedition Engineering, as architects of the scheme after a design competition. The team had to fit the crossing in to a ‘corridor’ with numerous constraints that included a minimum 54-metre clearance for Tall Ships above the Thames, constraints in plan and section relating to City Airport, multiple landholdings and existing infrastructure.

The sculptural form of the Emirates Air Line’s three towers makes an exciting addition to the London skyline. Their open, spiralling structure merges engineering and aesthetics to provide a visually light construction that minimises perceived mass.

Wilkinson Eyre’s design for the terminals of the Emirates Air Line is for a pair of visually light, stand-alone glazed pavilions. The plan of the terminals, with their radiussed ends, reflects the path of the cabins as they pass around the drive wheels at either end of the system, engaging with the machine aesthetic inherent to the buildings. The lightweight, glazed upper storey of the design houses the boarding platforms, which cantilever outwards above the ticket office and other services, located in the core at ground level. At Emirates Royal Docks, the smaller of the two terminals, the entire structure has been built on a deck over the water of Royal Victoria Dock. The Emirates Royal Docks terminal houses the electric motor which drives the Emirates Air Line, while a garage for servicing the cabins occupies an adjoining building at the Emirates Greenwich Peninsula terminal.

Oliver Tyler, Wilkinson Eyre Architect’s Director for the project said;
“The Emirates Air Line makes a dramatic architectural statement and will help to define the emerging character of the Greenwich Peninsula and Royal Docks. I am sure the towers will become a clearly identifiable symbol for the area and that travel Emirates Air Line will add a dash of excitement to the experience of commuting as well as become a ‘must do’ experience for visitors.”

The Emirates Air Line is fully accessible to wheelchair users and the mobility- impaired, with step free access in both terminals.

Wilkinson Eyre developed plans for the Emirates Air Line with Expedition Engineering and Mott Macdonald for Transport for London. The practice was instrumental in assisting TfL to win planning permission for the project from the London Boroughs of Newham and Greenwich as well as the approval of the Mayor’s office in early 2011. The plans were taken to completion through a Design & Build contract run by Mace, with Aedas as delivery architect.

Lead Architect: Wilkinson Eyre Architects
Project Director: Oliver Tyler Project Architect: Alex Kyriakides
Structural Engineer: Expedition Engineering
Building Services Engineer: Mott MacDonald
Project Management: Mott MacDonald
Acoustic Consultant: Mott MacDonald
Lighting Designer: Speirs + Major Landscape Design: EDCO
Client: Transport for London

Slideshow feature: this week marks the completion of the gigantic red ArcelorMittal Orbit sculpture at the London 2012 Olympic park. The tower is the last of the permanent structures to be completed for this summer’s games, so here’s a roundup of them all including sports venues by the likes of Zaha Hadid and Populous.

See more stories about London 2012 »

Construction of the controversial 115 metre-high sculpture that artist Anish Kapoor and structural engineer Cecil Balmond designed for the London 2012 Olympic park is now complete.

Visitors will enter a central elevator to ascend the steel tower, named the ArcelorMittal Orbit, arriving at an observation deck with a panoramic view of the city. To exit, they will be encouraged to climb down a staircase of 455 steps that spirals around the tower’s exterior.

Around 560 metres of red tubular steel form the structure and 250 coloured spotlights illuminate it at night. Internal fit-out will begin later this month and the attraction will open to the public before the games begin in July.

The project suffered a huge backlash when the initial plans were revealed back in 2010. See the comments from Dezeen readers here.

See also: our earlier stories about completed Olympic venues the aquatics centre, the velodrome and the main stadium, and see all our stories about the London 2012 Olympics here.

Photography is by ArcelorMittal.

Here’s some more information from the London Mayor’s Office:

ArcelorMittal Orbit unveiled to the world

Main construction of the London 2012 landmark is declared complete.

ArcelorMittal, tier two sponsor of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and the world’s leading steel company, will today offer a preview of the completed ArcelorMittal Orbit – the 114.5 metre sculpture designed by Anish Kapoor and Cecil Balmond which will stand at the heart of the Olympic Park.

The ArcelorMittal Orbit is being handed over to the London Legacy Development Corporation later this month, so that Balfour Beatty Workplace can complete the fit-out ahead of the London 2012 Games where it will be a ticketed visitor attraction.

The press event will be attended by the team behind the sculpture, including Anish Kapoor and Cecil Balmond, Lakshmi N. Mittal, Chairman and CEO, ArcelorMittal, and Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, alongside the architects, engineers and builders who have helped bring the project to reality. For the first time, attendees to the unveiling will be able to travel up to the viewing platform and enjoy a panoramic view of up to 20 miles, encompassing the entire Olympic Park and London’s skyline beyond. At 114.5m, the ArcelorMittal Orbit is the UK’s tallest sculpture and stands 22 metres taller than New York City’s Statue of Liberty.

“It gives me great pride to see the ArcelorMittal Orbit standing not only as a completed work of public art but as a physical symbol of the Olympic spirit,” comments Lakshmi N. Mittal, Chairman and CEO of ArcelorMittal. “It makes me very proud that ArcelorMittal plants from across the world contributed to this showcase of the strength and versatility of steel,” he adds.

Boris Johnson: “This 114.5metre-high attraction to trump rivals the world over is a calling card for investment in east London. It is a symbol of prosperity and growth, backed by one of the world’s most astute business leaders, which delivers the strongest message that this part of London is open for business after decades of neglect.

“In addition to the £11billion plus investment that has taken place around the Olympics over the last four years, the ArcelorMittal Orbit will draw visitors to newly regenerated swathes of east London in perpetuity and has changed our skyline and aspirations forever. The development of this area, creating new jobs, homes, schools, and thriving communities beyond the Olympics, is one of the most important regeneration priorities as we lay the ground now to meet the needs of the next 25 years.”

Anish Kapoor: “I am absolutely delighted that construction is now complete and I would like to thank the project team for making this possible and for their work on what is technically a very challenging project. I am looking forward to the Olympics when visitors to the Park will be able to go up the ArcelorMittal Orbit for the first time and I am delighted that members of the public will be able to interact with the work in this way.”

Cecil Balmond: “Anish and I were conscious from the beginning that the ArcelorMittal Orbit would be a lasting legacy to the city and so we wanted to stretch the language of the icon as far we could go. The Orbit is a hybrid, a network of art and structure, and its dynamic is the non-linear. You read into it multiple narratives in space.”

One of the world’s leading artists, Turner Prize winning Anish Kapoor studied in London, where he is now based. He is well known for his use of rich pigment and imposing, yet popular works, such as Marsyas, which filled the Tate’s Turbine Hall as part of the Unilever Series, Cloud Gate in Chicago’s Millennium Park and his recent record breaking show at the Royal Academy, the most successful exhibition ever presented by a contemporary artist in London.

The ArcelorMittal Orbit was designed by Anish Kapoor and one of the world’s leading structural designers, Cecil Balmond, who trained and lives in London, and is known for his innovative work on some of the greatest contemporary buildings in the world, such as the CCTV building in Beijing, as well as many Serpentine Gallery Pavilion commissions.

Construction of the ArcelorMittal Orbit took 18 months and required 560 metres of tubular red steel to form the sculpture’s lattice superstructure. The result is a bold statement of public art that is both permanent and sustainable, with close to 60 per cent of the 2,000 tonnes of steel used in the sculpture being drawn from recycled sources, underlining steel’s status as the world’s most recyclable material. Steel was chosen for the ArcelorMittal Orbit because of its unique properties including strength, modular structure and advantages of weight and speed of construction.

Sitting between the Stadium and the Aquatics Centre, the ArcelorMittal Orbit will be a beacon of the Olympic Park during the Games and the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park as the area will be known after the Games.

Visitors will be able to take a trip to the top of the structure in a lift and down too if they wish, although they will be encouraged to walk down the spiral staircase, which has 455 steps and has been designed to enable the guests to experience the feeling that they are orbiting around the structure as they descend it.

After the Olympic and Paralympic Games and following a period of transformation, the Legacy Corporation will run the ArcelorMittal Orbit as a visitor attraction with ticketed viewing from the observation decks and a compelling venue for private functions. It will be able to accommodate around 5,000 visitors a day with potential to attract around one million people during its first year of operation. It will have the capacity to accommodate between 400 – 600 visitors per hour, including full wheelchair access.

Last month, the Legacy Corporation announced that the ArcelorMittal Orbit will light up East London after 250 colour spot lights were added to the sculpture. Each can be individually controlled to produce a stunning digital combination of static and animated effects including a 15 minute moving light show every evening after the Games.

Andrew Altman, Chief Executive of the London Legacy Development Corporation, said: “The ArcelorMittal Orbit will become one of London’s most spectacular visitor attractions and a stunning backdrop to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. “Not only will it offer differing views by day and night, but it will light up the East London skyline to become a beacon of the incredible transformation of this part of East London.”

The Legacy Corporation, which will lease the ArcelorMittal Orbit to LOCOG during the Games, has said that 85% of the 50 jobs created in the venue after the Games will go to local people.

As a tier two sponsor of London 2012, ArcelorMittal has committed to funding up to £19.6 million of the £22.7 million cost of the ArcelorMittal Orbit, with the outstanding £3.1 million provided by the London Development Agency. It has been estimated that the resulting visitor attraction will generate up to £10 million of revenue per annum and create up to 50 new jobs following the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.